The Taunton Green will come alive on Saturday with the 2nd Annual Taunton Creates free public arts festival.

The festival — running from noon to 3 p.m. — will feature live entertainment, displayed art for sale, live artwork created during the festival and a number of hands-on arts and craft activities for children and adults.

The festival is being put together by the Downtown Taunton Foundation (DTF) and the Taunton Business Improvement District (BID)

“We did it last year with our first Taunton Creates,” Teri Bernert, director of DTF and BID said. “This year it’s a lot bigger. We have over four times as many artists participating and a lot more support. The goal is to bring a lot more art and culture into Downtown Taunton by hosting events.”

On Friday, a stage will be erected in preparation for the event where more than 10 performers are expected for an open mic showcase — including local artists LTJ Music, Matt Borrello and Gary Lyon and Living Water. Members of Applause Academy, the Taunton High School select chorus and Martin Middle School drama club and show choir will also perform.

“We have an amazing array of activities as well as performances scheduled on Saturday,” said Niko Dias, community arts director for DTF. “...We’re going to have over 20 artists, as well as crafters and photographers, displaying their work on the Green.”

Many of the local artists attending Saturday’s festival are associated with the Hughes-Donahue Gallery or the Taunton Art Association — who helped put the festival together — and an exhibit made up of artwork by children from the Boys and Girls Club of Taunton will also be displayed.

Of the many arts and crafts stations at the festival, one will be dedicated solely to making Mother’s Day gifts, and another will feature a public mural where the public is invited to paint a section. The mural will later be on display in Downtown Taunton.

“We’re calling it ‘Faces and Places of Taunton,’ and we’re asking people to come and be the artists,” Dias said, adding that professional artists will be on hand to assist, if needed.

According to Dias, DTF and BID have been working on the festival since January as a way to get people to “look at the Downtown Taunton district in a new light.”

“We’re going to actually see the beauty that exists in Downtown Taunton. The Taunton Green is a wonderful park and resource that has been used in a limited fashion,” Dias said.

“It’s all part of the great movement to bring arts and culture to Downtown Taunton to spur revitalization,” Bernert said.